SERPENT ON STAGE A two-story dragon is part of the spectacle during Magic Tree House: The Musical.

Photograph: Christina Lane Photography

Author Mary Pope Osborne had been writing children’s books for 10 years when she was approached by her publisher to create a series for young readers. She spent a year throwing ideas around for a time-travel adventure before stumbling upon a tree house during a walk in the woods with her husband, Will. Almost instantly, she says, the “Magic Tree House” novels were born with Dinosaurs Before Dark in 1992.

Since then, the 59-year-old Osborne has written 42 “Magic Tree House” books about a brother and sister travelling throughout history. The titles, aimed at six- to ten-year-olds, have sold more than 53 million copies worldwide. Will—who writes research guides that accompany the series—has cocreated a stage musical of Christmas in Camelot (“Magic Tree House,” #29). We called Osborne at her home in Connecticut to talk about the book series and the musical, which visits the Chicago area later this month.

You seem as excited by the adventures of the “Magic Tree House” main characters, Jack and Annie, as your readers. How do you stay so enthusiastic?
I love being able to head to a new place, meet new people, have new adventures and still be home for lunch. I’ve always been interested in mythology, magic and history, and I had fantastic adventures of my own as a child with my brothers. I wanted to incorporate all of that into a series so that I didn’t have to write about the same thing over and over again.

You don’t have kids of your own, but you spend a lot of time visiting schools and talking to kids, as well as teachers, parents and librarians. How come?
The energy I get from them is the ingredient that keeps the series going. I’m amazed at how much children can take in. My stories stopped being about teddy bear picnics when I realized seven-year-olds could meet me on a playing field where there’s a medieval castle in the world of Camelot. Wherever I go, I ask kids to vote on ideas for upcoming books. No matter where I am or what the demographic, they all have the same interests at the same time. I used to hear a lot about penguins and sea monsters; now there’s a lot of talk of penguins and leprechauns. But I try to trick kids into learning about things they may not love at first, too—I got readers interested in Shakespeare by calling a book Stage Fright on a Summer Night and put a dragon the cover of a book about Japanese poet Matsuo Basho.

Why do you think you have such a strong connection with kids?
That’s easy: I’m still like a child myself, but I’m lucky enough to also have an adult’s mastery of language. I’ve never had to look down at children from an age-appropriate view; I’m still there shoulder-to-shoulder with my readers playing in the backyard. [Writing for them] kept me from losing my mind when I finally had to grow up and live a so-called normal life.

Do you see yourself wrapping up the Magic Tree House series anytime soon?
At this point, I feel so close to Jack and Annie that I can’t wait to throw the next adventure at them and see what they come up with. As long as I feel that way, I’ll keep writing. And the musical is opening up a whole new world. I think the series has helped kids grow to love reading, and I hope this musical will help them love theater. We want to create shows with Broadway-caliber production values because that’s something that’s often lacking in children’s theater. We’re making 55 stops in 2008, and we’ll keep the show going as long as we can.

Magic Tree House: The Musical plays at the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University on November 22 and 23. For tickets ($22–41), call 708-235-2222 or go to centertickets.net.